SUN MEDIA

After visiting Calgary for his first Stampeders game, Mark Cohon is now convinced the city would do a good job hosting the Grey Cup.

The team is close to securing rights to host the 2009 game and the new league commissioner will soon make a decision and announcement on who gets awarded it.

"The future is bright in Calgary and it's one of those cities that should host the Grey Cup," said Cohon, who attended the Stamps home-opener last night against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. "We'll figure out soon which team gets the next Cup."

This year's Grey Cup is at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, with Montreal hosting the big game the following season.

Stampeders president Ted Hellard said that makes the Calgary franchise natural favourites being that the city hasn't played host to the CFL championship since 2000.

"We're in the process of trying to get the Grey Cup," Hellard said last night. "We're a fairly natural frontrunner because it is only natural it would come west after two years in the east.

"We have some things in our own little world we need to get sorted out first with the city and province first before we have an aggressive shot at it."

Those final details are with security and other logistics in which the government needs to be involved.

When the ownership group took over the team in 2005, they had a long-term plan of bringing the championship back to the city.

This off-season, the club hired Scott Ackles as senior vice-president of club operations. Ackles was general manager of the 2005 Grey Cup while he was with the B.C. Lions.